


A New Stronghold

by Jemini93



Series: Ghost in the Stack [2]
Category: Altered Carbon (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Exploitation, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:46:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25736014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jemini93/pseuds/Jemini93
Summary: Tak and my OC Cass help out a victim of injustice and walk down memory lane. Part 2 of my Altered Carbon Series.
Series: Ghost in the Stack [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878289
Kudos: 4





	A New Stronghold

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warnings: reference to sexual exploitation and domestic violence.

"Stop. Try again!" Tak tells her. The construct resets around them. Shelves in the room fall upwards back into their correct positions and the plasterboard that litters the floor slots neatly into place in the cream coloured walls. The table rises on legs that have de-splintered. Cass and Tak stand in the middle, the swords they carry now free from blood.

She is doing well. Her technique has improved immensely in the couple months he has been training her. Her ungainly lunging now has some strategy and thought behind it and, dare he say it, something approaching elegance. He's taken to playing chess with her to reinforce this more cerebral approach to self defence and finds he actually enjoys it. Even that satisfied, teasing grin she wears on the occasions she gets to call checkmate. She's humble enough to know it isn't a regular occurrence,

It's just this moment. He has thrown the fight, deliberately allowing his Achilles tendon to be severed and falling to the floor. If he in his role as attacker stops now, he's had it.

But she's still goddamn hesitating.

"Why didn't you finish it? You could have had me." He tells her.

"Dammit! Maybe if you didn't wear your face."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"I'm just not keen on slicing through my only friend's neck for some strange reason."

He sighs "Cass, your friends do not always remain so. If you want to survive, you're going to have to be willing to-"

"Are you ever going to turn on me, in the real?" She asks pointedly.

"I'm not planning on it, no."

"Then why can't you just be someone else?"

"Because you can't always have the easy option. And you've got to toughen up. Now, go again."

She clicks her virtual neck. "Fine."

"You mad enough at me, yet?" Tak asks her.

"Getting there!" She responds. Good.

Suddenly the construct dissolves around them and the real coalesces. Tak turns to the large man standing over them, one of their fellow passengers. "What the fuck?" Cass asks him, indignantly.

"I'll give you, 'what the fuck?' Little Lady! Like what the fuck are you two doing in there? Your time on the VR slot was over fifteen minutes ago. That's fifteen minutes of my time gone!"

"I'm sure you have a very pressing appointment. We were just leaving." Tak says, giving the man a hard look that clearly rattles him. He pulls Cass out of the door after him.

"We need to get our own VR station. And while we're at it, our own ship." Cass tells him once they are out of earshot. She winces at the noises coming from behind the door. 'Sure, the guy had a pressing 'appointment''.

"I won't waste resources on things we don't need. We are going to buy a VR rig at the next port. As to a ship..."

"You are the strangest billionaire ever, you know that? You remind me of those couples that used to win the lottery but still got up at stupid o'clock every day to run their mom and pop store or whatever."

"As opposed to those couples who ended up more destitute than before because they bled themselves dry too quickly?" Tak points out "we save the money for real emergencies."

"Ok, Tak, you win. You're the boss."

"Was that ever in dispute, Kid?" He asks. He sort of agrees with her though. He hates physically travelling through space. After being needlecast on missions here, there and everywhere for so many years, waiting for an actual ship to ponderously cruise to it's destination is painful. Especially with the quality of company they have here.

'Two more days' he thinks 'just two more days.'

/

When they arrive at the spaceport, Cass knows the drill. Tak gets the lodgings, she procures the supplies. They both have their ONIs on. A particular flicker of the eye is all it will take to contact and summon the other.

"See if you can find a rig while you're at it. Don't let them charge you more than two hundred. And you can write constructs so no need to get any pre loaded."

"I know how to turn down upselling, chill!" She holds up her hands. "Food for later...shall I see if they've even heard of hoi sin duck around here?"

"Alright. And get a beer. One beer."

"Wait, I'm allowed to learn how to slice your head off but I'm not allowed booze, what the hell?"

"You're underage."

"Who was the guy who reeselved me into an eighteen year old? This body can handle it!"

"Your mind can't though. We've seen that before."

She jabs a good natured middle finger at him "see you later, Tak."

"Bye, Cass."

/

"One eight five, then?" The tone the burley, bearded man behind the counter is using clearly tells her what a good deal he thinks he's giving her.

"Sure thing. Pleasure doing business." She reaches out a genial hand to shake over the oily counter. He just grunts.

"You got a delivery address for that?"

Tak has just sent her the details "The Neimoland. It's an AI hotel on-"

"Yep. Heard of it. Why you wanna stay at one of those dives, I've no idea. Print."

Cass puts her index finger on the scanner. Her fake identity flashes over a grainy screen and the payment is processed. The junkyard owner follows her out of the shockingly cluttered shop portion of his establishment. Mistrust of youth is, after all, a time honoured tradition. Then he leads her out past yet more piles of junk. She'd love to spend hours here, fixing up all these fragments of machines into something usable like some latter day Frankinstien.

That's when she notices it. A great round-nosed hulk of a ship. The hull is a mess of patches, bad weld jobs and dents, there are barely any windows and the thing doesn't look like it's taken off in a hundred years.

Cass loves it.

"That's a big old ship" she says nonchalantly.

"Oh that old pile of crap? No idea. Wouldn't surprise me if it was Uprising era to be honest. My mate dumped it on me a few years ago. Convinced me someone would want it for parts. It's been taking up valuable land space ever since. Rusty thorn in my side."

"Sounds like you're desperate to get it off your hands.". 'Play it cool, Cass' she told herself 'make him think you're doing him a favour'.

"Yep. Got a huge order coming in but have no idea where I'm gonna put it."

"Does it fly?"

"Get a look, kid and tell me what you think." He snorts.

"My uncle could do with some spare parts. He's got a pretty old ship. How much to take it off your hands?"

The yard owner snorts "Honey, if you can turn any of those lights on, it's yours."

"Can we shake on that?"

"Whatever" he squeezes her hand and Cass takes her leave, wandering in to the back of the ship. One of the doors is wedged open, giving access to a short corridor beyond. She wanders through to the cockpit, inspecting crew quarters as she goes. They must have been very basic but are in pretty good condition all things considered. The main cockpit must have had three chairs at one time but one has been ripped out of its bracket. She settles down at what she assumes is the main control panel. "Right, my lovely, let's see if you still tick and what ails you."

After a few keystrokes a whirring noise sends a grin to Cass' face. She opens a panel beneath the keyboard. Without tools it's a fiddly process but after a few wires are rearranged she thinks she'll have it. She is rewarded with a shower of sparks and a few flickering lights. The sound of heavy boots thudding on the floor heralds the arrival of the yard owner who gapes at the strip of lights.

"How the hell?"

"You just gotta know how to talk to a girl. My girl I should say. We did shake on it, right?"

The man laughs and she is surprised by how much it suits him. "Yep, you got it. Her..."

She considers. She and Tak are planning on hunkering down here for a while. Tak wants to deposit some money and establish an identity here. That gives them a place to fall back on in the future. To this end, and that of making herself useful by making her own money, she will need a job. It occurs to her that she has nowhere to put a ship. It's not like they could fit it in the Neimoland's reception area. She has already established a rapport with this guy. Two birds. One stone.

"You have a big order coming in, you say? No one else works for you, right?"

"My nephew when he can be arsed but not really no."

"You hiring?"

"Seriously? Why does a pretty thing like you wanna work in this dump?"

"Dump? Come on, I bet you have all sorts of other cool shit lying around. I like cool shit. You like...help I take it? I work for you. You give me a place to store this old thing while I fix her up and a bit of cash. I make sure you get to relax occasionally. Win win!"

"I thought you said your uncle wanted parts."

"Screw that. I get a whole ship!"

"I take it you're prepared for early mornings?"

"Up with the larks, me." Cass lies, swinging on the chair.

"Ok. Tomorrow morning. Six am."

"See you then" Cass gets to her feet "didn't catch your name."

"Gary."

"See you tomorrow!" She grabs her rucksack and leaves. Between how long it's going to take to get food and how much time she's spent on the world's most informal job interview, Tak should be checking up on her relatively soon. Better hurry up.

/

They are settled in their suite at the Neimoland, eating Chinese food out of cardboard. Tak has just been amusing Cass with how hard he had to convince the AI here that she wasn't his mistress so they would get two bedrooms. That conversation had been disturbing on so many levels.

"So what are we? To everyone?"

"You're my niece. My sister who was a very indulgent mother died recently and I'm trying to get her overgrown brat used to a more responsible life."

"Why am I always a brat in your cover stories?" Cass asks.

"If the sleeve fits..." He tries to hide a small smile.

"Honestly, Kovacs. I bring you duck. And beer. And this is how you treat me? You're a lousy uncle." This time he laughs.

"You said you had something to tell me."

"I've just got my first job. At a junkyard. I start tomorrow. What about you? You been doing anything all day except defaming my character?"

"Recon mostly. Not like we have much to unpack."

After a few more moments of chewing the dregs of their meal, Cass gets up. "Right, got to get rested up for work tomorrow. Night night." Tak notices the bag she carries, weighed down by a distinctive shape.

"Leave it here, Cass." He says without looking at her.

"Goddammit!" She swears, putting the bottle down on the kitchenette sideboard.

"Goodnight." He responds.

"See ya tomorrow 'Uncle' Tak" she waves.

"Brat." Tak mumbles fondly.

/

As Cass walks through the reception at the end of the day, ready for a good lie down, she hears some frustrated yelling from the lounge area. Frowning, she pops her head round the partition archway to see a young woman struggling to detangle a VR headset from tight blonde curls.

"Hey, let me give you a hand." She says. The woman nods and together they pry the honey coloured strands from the pads.

"Thankyou for that. Are you staying here too?"

"Yeah. My name's Sophie. You?"

"Alice." The woman says, reapplying the VR pads "maybe now I can actually watch my movie."

"Let me know if you get stuck down the rabbit hole again." Cass smiles at her own joke. Alice just looks nonplussed. "You know, Alice in Wonderland? No?" The woman shakes her head. "You missed out at storytime."

"Would you like to watch my film with me?" Alice asks "I'd like the company."

"Sure. Plus it will be a lot easier to rescue your hair again if you don't have to yell up the stairs."

Alice laughs and starts the programme. They spend very little of the movie actually watching it. It turns out Alice is the oldest child of five siblings who all live in a lake house around the other side of Waystation. Her parents are dog breeders. She is currently staying here in the city with an uncle. Cass feeds her her practiced backstory. She lived with her own parents and brother until a freak accident destroyed their home. "Mine was the only stack that survived. I live with my uncle too."

"He that hot asian guy?"

Cass snorts. Tak? Hot? That's a laugh. "Yeah. I guess. I have to warn you though he's a bit...emotionally unavailable."

"Oh he's attached?"

"You could say that. Anyway what do you do for a living?"

Alice shifts uncomfortably "People."

'Oh' thinks Cass "And your uncle doesn't mind?"

"No." Alice is clearly not happy with this line of conversation so Cass moves it elsewhere.

"Alice!" A male shout cuts through from the real. Immediately she turns off the simulation. Cass turns to see a scowling older man looking at Alice from the archway.

"U-Uncle Victor. You startled us."

"Where have you been?" He demands.

"Hey. We were just watching a movie. My name's Sophie." Cass holds out her hand to shake as she stands. He doesn't take it, brushing past her.

"Whatever. Come on." Victor grabs Alice roughly by the arm and leads her out of the room. She turns apologetically to Cass.

"It was nice meeting you, Sophie."

"See you around." Calls Cass before the two disappear from view.

/

Over the next few weeks, the hotel starts to feel like home. Tak has got a job as, of all things, a cab driver so he's gone for most of the time anyway. Alice becomes a good companion. Cass takes her to see the ship she's fixing up and Alice shows her the city when Cass is not at work and when Victor is not about.

"Something's off about him." She says to Tak one evening. "It's like he has her on the end of a string."

"Some families are more overbearing than others, Cass."

"An overbearing family doesn't let their kid become a prostitute, Tak. I'm telling you something doesn't add up. She jumps about a foot whenever he enters the room. "

"It's none of our business. Just leave it alone."

Cass doesn't intend to but for once keeps her mouth shut.

/

"Where are we going?" Cass asks Alice in the cab. Victor is away for the weekend and Tak is on a night shift so they have a late evening free to themselves. Cass was completely unprepared for the idea of 'girl's night'. The only clothes she owns are PJs, sweats and oil slicked work jumpsuits so she is wearing one of Alice's more conservative dresses. She even has hairspray in her dark hair for the God's sake.

"Sandy's" Alice indicates a holographic sign and they go down the steps. Their IDs are read by fingerprint and suddenly Cass is surrounded by a disorientating world of strobe lighting and thumping music she feels as much as hears.

She has no idea how to dance but what everyone else is doing doesn't look particularly coordinated. She joins in, finding herself enjoying it. Alice says something inaudible.

"What?" She asks her.

"I said; do you want a drink?"

"Sure!" Cass yells back and they are furnished with two tumblers of burning liquid. Alice laughs at Cass's wince as the whiskey goes down.

"You look like you've never had a real drink before!"

"Yep. Complete spirit virgin."

"Another one?"

"Sure!"

/

Cass feels distinctly unsteady as she stumbles back through the Neimoland's entrance, supported by Alice. The hotel's AI raises his eyebrows at them. "Hey, Jeeves? There any chance you could not mention this to my uncle?" She slurs slightly.

"I will use the utmost discretion madam." He says primly.

The two of them settle into the lounge area, laughing. "Y'know, I've sort of got a confession to make, Alice. I'm not eighteen. My sleeve is but-"

"Wait, how old are you?" Alice frowns.

"Few months south of sixteen."

"But your ID...it's fake, isn't it? Oh, your uncle's gonna be pissed at me..."

"Nah. I can deal with him..." Cass is almost asleep on the comfortable armchair.

"You are such a troublemaker, Soph."

"Yep, that's me." Cass yawns. So does Alice.

After a few moments she pipes up again "I've sort of got a confession too.". Cass grunts an encouragement.

"Victor is not my uncle." Alice tells her before falling asleep. Suddenly Cass feels rather sober. It makes a horrible sort of sense. Victor's possessive behaviour, why they are living here instead of an actual apartment. Cass wonders briefly if Victor has a wife.

Neither of them are in any condition to elaborate tonight. Cass fetches a couple of blankets from the reception, throws one over Alice and settles down in the opposite chair, wondering if hangovers are all they are cracked up to be.

/

Alice was less forthcoming the following morning. She refused to enter into any conversation about what may or may not have been discussed the previous evening and had spent the rest of the weekend ignoring Cass. On Sunday evening, she decides to talk to Tak again.

"I don't get why you arn't more worried for her." She sighs.

"Cass, Alice is an adult who providing a service for a client. I'm not quite sure what you want us to do short of shutting down an entire industry."

"You don't see her. How scared she is of him. There is something more to this." Suddenly she's angry "But you're so focused on this mission of ours that you turn a blind eye!"

"That's enough, Cass..." He warns.

"What would she say? Isn't this what she fought against? Rich assholes having their way with the innocents in this world? Wouldn't she be disappointed that you'd just let it slide?"

She's touched a nerve, she can tell. Tak glowers at her, getting to his feet. She knows he won't hit her but he definitely looks angry enough to. "First off, don't tell me what she believed in and what she would want. Ever. I fought that war alongside her. You were protected. You barely know what the fuck you're talking about." He looks like he's about to say more before he thinks better of it and leaves the room. The sting of guilt in Cass's chest and eyes wars with the knowledge that she is right about Alice.

'Still, what did I just do?' She thinks.

/

The following day is entirely miserable. Tak doesn't talk to her before they both leave. Several of Gary's customers take exception to her and she finds no time to work on the ship. She sits alone in her room reading when she gets a knock at the door.

"Look Tak, I'm sorry about..." She begins before looking up to see Alice in the doorway. Her beautiful hair is dishevelled, the makeup running down her face isn't quite enough to distract from the purple discolouration around her temples that extends down her arms. Before she knows it her arms are full of crying Alice. She leads her to one of the chairs.

"What happened?"

"Victor wasn't impressed that I went out without him the other night."

"What is your deal with him? Whatever he's paying you...how can it be worth this?" Cass is incredulous.

"I might as well tell you everything. I can't keep it any more. My family...my parents were gamblers. A long time ago. Victor helped my father out of his debts. Should have guessed that we'd just replace one loan shark with another."

"What has this got to do with...?"

"Victor took a fancy to me. I talked to him and agreed that I would stay with him if he would write off Dad's debts. It was ok in the beginning. He was away a lot more. Since he's started planning to move his company operations back to Earth though...he's been drinking more. He's been around more."

Cass is horrified "Get the hell out, Alice. Just run. Before something happens."

"And then he goes after my family again? I can't do that. I'm just gonna have to leave for Earth...I...I don't even know if...I'll ever be able to come back." She breaks down again and Cass clasps her hand. It's only then that she notices Tak in the doorway. There is quiet thunder in his face as he looks at Alice. Something has changed.

"Ok." He says to Cass "you win. We get involved."

Alice yeps before realizing who it is.

"I gotta go." She says "he doesn't like waiting."

/

"So what's the plan, Boss?" Cass asks Tak.

"I get her a new sleeve. And you build a synth body. Program it to act like her, at least for a while. That way she and her family can disappear."

"Unless..." Cass is considering something. Tak feels it is much better to let her speak now to ensure the structural integrity of any plan later.

"Go on..."

"We make sure he can't hurt anyone ever again. He's not a good guy, Tak, look at your research on him. His entire family hates him. He's got several others around the neck. We just got to be sure he travels with 'Alice' alone."

Tak is momentarily taken aback. Cass is willing to commit crime in order to defend the morally right, even her continued existence is technically illegal, but she has never discussed murder before. Any other guardian of a similar fifteen year old would probably keep all sharp objects away from her and put her in therapy.

Instead Tak asks her "What are you thinking?"

"We rig fake Alice with a bomb. Wait until he's nowhere near a planet so the'll be no chance of stack retrieval and...blow him to hell."

"I worry about you sometimes, kid. Sound idea though. You best get on with it. I have sleeve facilities to shop around in."

After a few minutes Cass addresses the slight thrum of tension still palpable. "Tak...what I said about Quell. I fucked up. It...wasn't my place. I was so focused on getting you to agree with me that I was willing to stomp all over..." She pauses, genuine regret in her eyes "there are things we shouldn't use against people...places we shouldn't go and I did. I'm sorry and hope you can forgive me."

The kid actually looks like she'll cry. She's scared, he realizes. That he wont forgive her. That he'll leave her behind after this is done. That he's decided she's too much baggage. He had thought about letting her stew for a while but he can see the lesson has been taught. He can't leave her like this.

"I'll forgive you if you stop giving me that fucking look. The kicked puppy thing is actually painful to look at."

"Works better with brown eyes." She says "I've got the day tomorrow. Just don't pass by Gary's. You're my alibi. My uncle has been overdoing it but he's such a stubborn bastard that he needs someone to sit on him to make him rest when he's ill. So I can't possibly be at work."

Tak is glad that things are back to normal. Heartfelt sincerity serves its purpose. That doesn't make it any less awkward. "Great. Let's get to work." He says.

/

Cass is not sure how Alice is taking the proposal. Her stare is starting to freak her out if she's honest.

"Who are you people?"

It only now occurs to Cass that she might not even believe their story even if they tell it. To her, the Uprising was less than nine months ago. Alice grew up learning about it in dry history lessons. "You ever heard of the Envoys?"

"The terrorists?!"

"We were not..." Cass begins.

"Wait, 'we'? Sophie...you're not telling me..."

"My real name is Cass. This is Tak and yes we did work with Quellcrist Falconer."

"You're a terrorist? From two hundred odd years ago?" Alice is clearly struggling and Cass can tell Tak is loosing patience with how circular this conversation is becoming. He leans his head back against the wall in exasperation.

"Alice, this may be difficult for you to accept but the history you were taught...well its sort of bollocks." Cass tells her. "We were fighting so that the rich would not get the monopoly on immortality. The acts the Envoys committed were...we didn't just kill people." Cass thinks of both her families "that was the Protectorate's job."

"But you are planning on killing Victor. With a bomb."

"Mixed messages, we grant you." Tak opens his eyes. "Although given what you know about him, can you see him being a great loss?"

"No. Just please...don't get hurt. This should be my problem."

Tak gives her his best 'are you shitting me?' face and Cass laughs.

"We're not scared of him, Alice. Soon, you won't have to be either." Tak tells her. He gently indicates her bruised arm "No one deserves to be treated this way. You're worth more than this. Remember that."

Alice swallows and falls against Tak in a hug which amuses Cass no end. He awkwardly pats her back until she lets go.

"So, what do you need me to do?" Alice asks.

"This is gonna sound really, really weird but I kinda need to know what you look like. Without any clothes on. To...make the synth realistic." Cass blushes furiously. Alice has no such qualms. She immediately drops her dress and is standing naked in their suite. Cass sees Tak make a point of drifting into the next room.

"Right. Erm...let's make some schematic sketches, then." Cass says, clearing her throat.

/

A week later Cass waits with her finger on the trigger. Alice sits next to her in a much older sleeve, chewing on a nail. She shakes slightly.

"Hey!" Cass checks the ID on Alice's temporary sleeve "Stacy won't be too happy when she gets her body back in about six years and her manicure's ruined. Relax, we got this."

"Nearly time, Cass. Focus." Tak recalls her attention to the monitor.

To be honest, Cass relates to Alice's nerves. The morning that Victor was due to leave, they had had to smuggle Alice to the resleeving centre and replace her with the synth that Cass had built. This had been easily the most touch and go part of the plan. The AI wasn't as sophisticated as it could have been. It was a testament to how little regard Victor had for the young woman that he had been so thoroughly taken in. In fact, Cass honestly believed that he wouldn't notice for at least a few months. Maybe they could even leave him alive.

'To hurt someone else? No.' She thinks

Alice has only recently fully woken, having slept through a truly epic case of sleeve sickness. Her eyes still have not fully focused.

"Target distance achieved." Tak tells her.

Cass turns to Alice "do you wanna do the honors?" She asks her. There is momentary hesitation on her friend's face before she gives a hard nod. Cass stands to give her access to the monitor. Alice stars at it momentarily before jabbing a finger down on the key. The signal cuts out.

"Goodbye you piece of garbage." Alice growls, all the hurt he has dealt her over the last few years in her words. She sags in the chair. Cass puts a steadying hand on her shoulder.

"You're free, Alice."

Tears are in her eyes, the expression familiar even if the shape is not. "Thankyou." She says.

Cass exchanges a look with Tak. He clearly shares her opinion that they did something good today.

/

"Cass, seriously do I have to do this?"

"Yes! Just close your eyes, ok. That's the deal with surprises."

He barely makes it a few paces through the junkyard before knocking his shin on something. He swears colourfully. "Are we there yet?"

"Aaaaand now!" Cass finally lets him see.

The ship she has finally finished refurbishing stands before them. To most people she would still look ugly. But she works. On the test run she took her on last week to drop Alice back to her family, Cass thought she was a pretty smooth ride all things considered.

"Well? What do you think? Nothing to say?"

"It's a ship."

"Very observant, Tak. I can see why the Meths thought you'd be a good detective."

"You actually made it go?"

"Yep. I'll show you around. Once I've paid Gary for the last day." Cass fiddles with the communicator she carries, making the cash transfer in Gary's absence. They were moving on from Waystation today. Tak had just been about to get them hired as crew on a transport to the next system when Cass had intervened, eventually persuading him to haul their stuff down to the junkyard. Tak had grumbled that he didn't like surprises. He is clearly making an exception for this one. He wanders though the ship, taking in every detail as Cass points out the modifications and repairs she has made. She settles into the copilot's seat.

"You're not driving?" He asks.

"Nope. I'm the Padawan in this outfit." Tak looks confused. "Padawan? Apprentice? Star Wars?"

"Never seen it."

"You and Rei really were deprived." Cass flicks the switch to boot the guidance computer.

"Yeah, that was the worst thing my dad did to us. Not the killing our mum, the deficiency of pop culture." Tak says flippantly.

"Jesus! That's how she died?"

Tak gives a wan smile "don't worry. I got him back in kind. Killed him when I was twelve. He was gonna hurt Reileen so..."

Cass stares at him "Have I ever told you you are simultaneously the most awesome and most scary guy I've ever met?"

"Words to that effect, yes."

"That why you decided to help Alice in the end? Because of your mum?"

"That and my carefully hidden generosity of spirit that has driven me to take in the world's most sarcastic teenager."

"Must be a pain in the ass."

"She has her moments." Tak raises an eyebrow at her.

Cass snorts with laughter as Tak guides the ship through takeoff. Shadows bend across the cockpit as they climb through the atmosphere. Cass is relieved at the relative lack of alarming popping noises.

"Tak, where is Rei?" She asks. Tak doesn't answer and Cass decides not to push it. He'll tell her when and if he's ready. "Where are we going, then?"

"Harlan's World." He tells her.

Cass figures that's as good a place as any to start.

/

"You're out of practice." Tak tells her. They are back in the pleasantly furnished room they train in. Tak's back is to the oft-trashed bookcase. Cass raises her sword with a weary spin. For the umpteenth time, Tak allows himself to be taken down.

'Come on, Cass.' He thinks 'finish it.'.

To even his surprise, there is a only a second of hesitation before Cass' sword bisects his windpipe. He feels the sensation of virtual dying. Waves of warmth and cold accompany a moment of severe pain before his VR form resets behind Cass.

She turns to face him, the blood on her face, clothes and hair already darkening. "How'd I do?" She asks, her light tone at odds with her gory appearance.

"You hesitated. Go again?"

"Fine!" She sighs, raising her sword before her.

Epilogue:

"Cass...Cass you hear me?" Tak's voice drifts through the haze of memory that she is lost in. The beautiful, temperate forest she and Tak both called home once is unchanged, from the gentle breeze to the singing of native bird life. No scars from the Battle of Stronghold are visible in this place. She could swear the tree that she's looking at is the very same one she once used for target practice. She is glad of the constance here.

"You ok?" Tak asks. Cass's eyes are still rimmed red. She had tried to go in to Stronghold's ruins with Tak. She swears she tried. But it was like hitting an ethereal wall. Every cell in her body, every strand of crystal that housed her DHF held back. Her heart had roared in her ears, her stomach clenched painfully. Beads of sweat stung her forehead, sunburnt from an earlier hike. She remembered the fires in the distance, the rain of ash. She remembered running.

Running. Falling. Dying.

"I can't...I can't go in there. I can't...see what they did."

"Come on, Cass" Tak hadn't noticed yet. Then he did "Cass..."

"I...no." Cass said tightly. She turned away and ran back behind the ship. She just about had the wherewithal to bend forward before throwing up. She looked back to see Tak watching her. He hesitated at the doorway, concern on his face, then he disappeared inside, leaving Cass to collect herself in private. She had spent the next couple of hours searching for the wreckage of Quell's ship to occupy her mind. The few fragments she had uncovered were now in the hold of the ship she has named 'Homestead'.

"Do you remember the first time I fired a gun?" She asks.

"Yep. You nearly made Tio piss himself."

Cass laughed. Tio, the musclebound, scarred tough guy had screamed like the most strident little soprano when his lunch had been rudely interrupted by a stray plasma shot burning a seven inch hole in the tree next to him.

"Quell had such a fit."

"Yep. One of the few times I heard her shout." Tak remembers.

"To be fair, she didn't have to usually." Quell's stare had been enough to impress her meaning upon any interlocutor she had. "She had a gift. Well has once we find her."

A few weeks before that day, Tak had found Cass digging in a picturesque miniature canyon, picking up crystalline fragments from the dirt and examining them through a spanner sized tool. She pocketed some and discarded more with a disgruntled huff.

"Do I want to know what you're up to?" Tak had asked.

"Hey, Takeshi!" She had replied brightly "patrol's changed already?"

"Yeah. Quell's looking for you." Tak said pointedly. All the other kids managed to be inside the base by their curfew but to be fair, young Cassandra was a bit of a nutcase.

"Oh shit! I just need a couple more to run tests on."

"Couple more what?" Tak had ignored the cussing.

"These crystals. The carbon structure amplifies light as it bends it. Your plasma guns work by refracting light, right? I got a theory that I should be able to increase the efficiency of the charge packs by about twenty five per cent using these. Thirty at a push. I just need some more..."

"Curfew's there for a reason, Kid. Come back with me while we still have the light." The sun had sunk low in the sky without Cass noticing. Once she was safely ensconced in the compound, she had begun working on modifying a few weapons. Her idea had worked but on balance she was probably not the best person to test it, having never aimed a firearm in her life. Quell had had a weird hang up about her training with weapons. Whenever Cass had asked about it, she had been told it was on the wishes of her parents. Rei had pointed out the folly of such sentiment.

"You're wasting a resource. What difference does it make if she learns to fight now instead of three years from now? What does it serve?"

"The cause of protecting her innocence for a while longer. There is value in that. I would have thought you would understand it."

Rei's jaw had tightened "She saw her dad's head blown to bits. I think that ship's sailed."

"I made a promise to a very old, very dear friend Reileen. I won't break it."

Once Quell was out of earshot, Rei had noticed Cass listening to their conversation intently. "Don't worry, Kid. You'll have your chance to get your own back one day. Take it."

"We take what is offered." Cass had replied with a smile.

"That's not always enough. Take what you can get." As a thirteen year old beginning her first tentative steps towards womanhood, Cass had idolised Rei. Her sheer attitude, her frightening skill, her pretty face tattooed with vines. So she had nodded just to get her approval without really knowing what she was agreeing with. "That's the spirit Kid." Rei had favoured Cass with a knowing smile before shouldering a massive pack with ease.

Cass sinks on to a half rotten log, staring at the sunset glittering on the lake she swam in once upon a time. She scuffs her boots against the grey pebbles. "Tak, what happened here? I don't understand how we fell...you were all always so careful."

"It was an inside job." Tak doesn't meet her eyes.

"No! No! None of us would. We all loved Quell. What she was trying do do. Who would turn on her?"

Tak looks acutely uncomfortable "can you really think of no one?"

Tak's face. Cass has never seen it so haunted. 'Except when...when I ask about her.' She thinks.

"Rei?" She breathes "Rei?!"

Tak's lack of response is enough "wh...why? What did she have to gain?"

"Me. Or she thought so. She thought we'd lost our way." Tak tells her the rest. About the backups. About the Head in the Clouds that fell to Earth. About having to shoot Rei through the stack. Looking back on it, Cass realises it all makes an awful sort of sense. This doesn't make it less horrific. She briefly wonders if Rei had been lying at the end. What if there was no hope for Quell? She puts that half formed suggestion behind a wall and tops it with metaphorical barbed wire for good measure.

"Why didn't you want to tell me?" Cass asks quietly, sympathy choking her voice.

"I...wanted to keep a part of her untainted and uncorrupted for as long as I could, I suppose. A part of the sister I loved. And entirely failed to protect." He sits next to her on the log, sagging slightly.

"Oh, Tak. I...don't know what to say." How can any words she can come up with measure up to that kind of pain?

Half of Tak's lips turn up in a sad smile. "That's a first.".

Cass gives him a very gentle shove. She turns her face back to the late sunset, her head coming to rest on Tak's broad shoulders. A faint 'hushhhh' sound heralds an evening breeze. The warmth has been leeched out of the day by the coming night and Cass feels herself shudder reflexively. Tak's arm enfolds her wordlessly. Neither of them move, thinking of their lost and the one they hope to find again as they stare at the gentle lapping of the water and the colours that bleed like ink across the sky.


End file.
